Instagram stories are mostly seen as a way for people to show their day to day life. A lot of businesses think that Instagram stories aren’t necessary for their business to grow. BOY are they wrong!

Instagram stories are such a powerful tool to grow relationships with your audience, and we all know what building relationships can do for your business (check out some successful brands that have an awesome relationship with their audience AND are on stories everyday – Bon Maxie, The Digital Picnic, Greenhouse Interiors.)

So are Instagram stories only used to show off your day to day life? No way! There is a strategic way to do Instagram stories that will mean you are building relationships, but also making sales. Here are a few of my top tips:

– Be active on stories as much as you can. Personally I try to be active every week day and take a break on the weekends

– Build that know, like and trust factor by showing some of your personal life in your stories and BE YOURSELF. Don’t try and put on a persona of someone you’re not, as people won’t relate to that

– Show the behind the scenes of your business. Not only is this interesting for a potential or current customer, but you can also involve them in the process and ask their feedback

– Tease new products and get people excited! You want to get people in your DMs and start one-on-one conversations, so ask them questions to encourage engagement

– And last but not least, sell! Contrary to popular belief, you can sell on Instagram stories – but you do need to build those relationships first. Once your audience trusts you, they will want to buy from you. I’d say 70% of my sales come from my Instagram stories and the conversations I have in the DMs following those stories